District 7 Voting - Growing New Life

So
it is with voting. You take the time to stop in at your designated
polling place, sign in and in a matter of moments - because you already
know who you're voting for - you've marked your ballot and the poll
workers watch you quietly slip your jacketed ballot into the voting
box.

Motivating people to vote is difficult. It never feels like your voice
is being heard. But it is. Just like the tiny sperm and its cousin,
the bulbous egg, after the task is complete, you don't feel any
different. It wasn't even enjoyable - just another task in the acts of
the day.

If, as you leave the polling place, you take with you the memory of the
police officers and poll workers dutifully sitting at their tables,
making sure the election process was handled without compromise, if you
remember that you expressed your voice and made a difference through
the democratic processes available here in the United States, then
within you will grow a need to keep expressing your voice and continue
making a difference in your community.

Just like being pregnant, just like growing new life.

Forum topics

On Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 6:30pm in Hibernian Hall, RoxVote
held its second candidate forum for the special district 7
election. Sarah Ann Shaw served as the moderator, with all eyes on her
and the two candidates flanked on either side for a full 90 minutes of
talk, talk and more talk.

The candidates rotated "Who's on first?" to make sure there were no
advantages, and except for the two-minute opening statements, all
answers were limited to 1 minute.

Questions came from the sponsors of the evening's event followed by
questions submitted by the audience. Issues brought up repeatedly (at
all forums) have included:

the high unemployment rate in District 7

Cori reform

access to City of Boston programs

more funding for youth workers

the pilot program

how to unite the disparate neighborhoods of District 7

maintenance of parks and green spaces

education including the Boston public schools, charter schools and teacher evaluation

deterring crime effectively

taking back our neighborhoods block by block

But the most interesting questions where those two questions that each
candidate was allowed to ask the other. It was at this point that a
small melt in the frozen and frigid contest of political puffery opened
a window into the humanity of these two people. We laughed, applauded
and watched the confrontation. There should have been more questions
in this category.

If I win, will you commit to working with me?

Do you think Chuck Turner was treated unfairly?

If you say you're so good, how come . . .?

Who are the candidates?

Compared with their performance in forums held in February prior to the
primary election, the two candidates, Tito Jackson and Cornell Mills,
were on top of their game. They both speak well, have a strong working
knowledge of problems in the community and each brings a different
approach to doing their job, the job each is hoping to win on March 15.

Both candidates are local to the district 7 area, having grown up in
Roxbury and Dorchester, and both come from politically active
households. Neither candidate is a stranger to the advocacy and
constituency components of the normal City Councilor position. Tito
Jackson has been active in the political scene for a long time in his
positions with state government and Gov. Patrick. Cornell Mills raised
his family here and has been active in community and neighborhood
issues. He is also deeply committed to those he counts as his extended
"street" family.

Tito
likes to portray he brings a machine that's already well
organized to the position, and he does. Cornell likes to
emphasize the youth and crime deterring team he has already put
together - a team dedicated
to the young people whose lives have been distracted by their misguided
criminal
behavior and whose lives have been derailed by the Cori stigma.

A new city councilor

One attendee noted that both candidates are light in ideas and real plans - the "how."
It's true. While they both openly commit to their intention to involve
as many constituents as they can, neither candidate has been thrown
overboard yet - to sink or swim. A new councilor is just that - the
new "guy" on the block.

As a newbie, the newly elected counselor begins with the ties he has
already established in the community. From there the job is to build
relationships with the existing city structure. It will be a while
before the momentum of either candidate can be seen or felt no matter
how strongly their words fly out about action they plan to take.
Newcomers have to bide their time until they earn the respect of their
"elders."

We, as residents of District 7, would do well to imagine ourselves as
the parents of the newly elected District 7 Councilor, just on his way
to the first day of school. It's we who need to keep him on track.

Typically that's not how it's done. We expect that with the ballots
cast, and with the election results confirmed, our job is done. The
reality is our job is just beginning.

We, the residents, need to stay in close proximity to our newly elected
councilor. Our voices must never cease. We need to organize ourselves
as a huge support group enabling our representative to get the job done
for us.

Who should I vote for?

Who is the better candidate? It's not clear. Is it the candidate who
has the political support of almost everybody? Is it the candidate who
has devoted years of his life to making a difference in the streets?
Flip your coin - heads, it's Tito, tails it's Cornell.

Or maybe you'd
like to submit your name as the write-in candidate. What would that
tell you? That you have the makings of a leader, that you need to
follow your visions to make a difference in our community.

In the primary election in February, a grand total of 7% or about 2900
people of over 35,000 who live district 7 voted. Sometimes we like
to provide excuses for why registered voters at any one election didn't
vote. It's cold; it snowed; the candidates.

Who cares! Let's face it. We
need to rally ourselves around our political freedoms and make a
commitment to participating in the voting process. If the
predicted outcome is obvious or highly in doubt, it doesn't
matter. For this election, both candidates will get the job
done. In a sense it doesn't matter who wins.

As one of the candidates stated in answering his question, they (public
works) look first to see if you're an active voter, then they decide
when they're going to attend to your problem. That may or may not
be true, but we need to make sure we are all active voters holding our
city accountable for its services.

Whoever you choose, and you must choose, commit to voting on
March 15. Mark every paper calendar in your house, schedule
every electronic calendar that keeps you ticking, and enlist every
person in your life who is willing to say to you: "Don't forget to
vote."